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Rubicante is first encountered in the Tower of Babil. The battle will begin after Rubicante heals the party. As a fire-elemental enemy, he is weak to Ice-elemental weapons and magic, but whenever he hides behind his cloak, all magic except Fire will heal him.

Rubicante counters all physical attacks with Fira against the whole party. Rubicante's signature attack is Inferno, which hits one party member for Fire-elemental damage; possibly enough to knock out any ally without adequate Fire protection. When hiding behind his cloak, Rubicante is limited to a comparatively weak physical attack and Fira.

Before the battle, the party should equip Ice-elemental armor to protect against Rubicante's attacks. Blizzara and Flood are recommended whenever Rubicante is vulnerable to Ice, as well as using the Icebrand or Kain'sJump attack. Casting a Fire spell on him while his cloak is up will cause him to cast Raise on all party members.

Rubicante will cast Inferno on the party, which heals himself and deals a large amount of damage to the party (enough to knock out everyone except Cecil and possibly Kain). Rubicante only casts this when his cloak is open. He closes his cloak if Edge steals from him, during which he will resort to physical attacks.

Rubicante will counter-attack with Fira, so dealing a lot of damage in single attacks (such as Kain's Jump) would be a good way to go about the battle; additionally, having Kain and Cecil equipped with an Ice Shield or Ice Mail would effectively reduce the damage from Rubicante's Fire-based attacks. For reasons unspecified, Quake will not trigger the Fira counterattack; should Rubicante's cloak be closed, this should be Rydia's spell of choice.

Rubicante counters with Blizzara on himself after a summon is used, which will heal him if he is wrapped in his cloak, but will backfire if his cloak is open. A few well-timed casts of Shiva or Dragon will easily defeat him.

Should the player give Rydia the Bluff augment, she can use it, and together with Blizzaga to deal large damage when Rubicante opens his cloak.

[view·edit·purge]Rubicante is a demon in the Inferno of Dante's Divine Comedy. He is one of the 13 Malebranche ("Evil Claws") who guard Bolgia Five of the eighth circle of Hell, Malebolge. Vulgar and quarrelsome, their duty is to force the corrupt politicians to stay under the surface of a boiling lake of pitch.